Drew Lane quits WRIF morning show “Drew and Mike”

Drew Lane has been off air since September 17, 2007. And he wont be returning to the morning show with Mike Clark. Their morning show “Drew and Mike” is one of the most popular shows on WRIF 101.1 FM in Ferndale, Michigan. Drew had initially taken time off to spend more time with fiancee Tess Schuster, but now after seven months of speculation and internet rumours, it has been confirmed that he wont be joining back.

The Detroit Free Press reported today that Drew Lane will not be joining back and Mike Clark will remain on the morning show which he currently co-hosts with newscaster Trudi Daniels and producers Marc Fellhauer and Mike Wolters. Lane, on the other hand is learnt to be taking his bold commentary and humor to another show.

The show typically runs from 5.30am through 10.00am on weekdays. Though they start with old clips, the live show starts just before 6am and goes on well beyond 10am at times. The show started as Drew and Zip show in 1991, when it was brought in from Phoenix, Arizona. Zip left two years later and Mike Clark came in. During the last decade and half, Drew and Mike have interviews several celebrities and sports personalities. Drew and Mike Show is renowned for quirky humor and outlandish interviews. Its R-rated humor and banter and sports talk keeps the audience tuning in the morning. The radio show has also bred two CD collections that have raised more than $500,000 for charity.

Speculations are rife that Lane was not happy doing a show that made him start his day while others were still in bed. A decade earlier, he had undergone a spine surgery owing to back-pain and was off air for over 5 months. There are also talks doing rounds that we might hear him soon on a non-morning show or a talk show on sports format or on an altogether new format. Nothing has been said yet and we have to wait till we hear it from Drew himself.

WRIF has had revenues of over $20 million last year, of which over 80% is contributed by the Drew and Mike Show. WRIF surely has to think on how to continue the program as effectively and in which format. Whatever the format, WRIF has to make sure they do not tamper with the local content being covered on the show as it is highly popular among the regulars. We have to wait and see what will be the new show sound like.